While we all have our own ways of honoring deceased loved ones, a bowler may have just found the perfect way of paying tribute to his late father.
John Hinkle, of Illinois in the United States, has played many 300, or perfect, games, but his run on April 12 was the most memorable to date, as per WMBD-TV on April 20.
John decided to let his late father, who taught him the sport, tag along on the regular league night by using a bowling ball wherein he stored his ashes.
While it doesn’t magically make one a better player, it certainly made John’s game extra special and eventually led him to score a perfect game.
“I had tears in my eyes in the 11th and 12th frames. I couldn’t tell you where that last ball went, I had so many tears just throwing it,” John was quoted as saying.
John and his brother Joe, who learned and loved bowling through their father, John Sr., have been bowling on the same team for years now, according to the report. John Sr. passed away in 2016.
The news outlet explained that John bowls two-handed. In the game’s rules, you can only use two fingerholes when using two hands.
With this extra hole, John, now 39 years old, gets to share his games with his father by having it filled with his ashes. It may have taken John a couple of years to find someone who could do it, but it turned out to have been worth it.
“I was talking to my brother and told him, ‘I’m shooting a 300 with this ball…’ And Joe said, ‘Do it!'” John was quoted as saying.
“This makes up for so many nights growing up when we slept in a bowling alley while our parents were finishing league night,” Joe, meanwhile, told the news outlet.
The sons said that this particular 300 game was “an incredible accomplishment” for their family of bowlers. While John said that his father never shot a 300 in his life, he was happy that he finally got to do so.
“It’s special. Dad shot 298, 299, never had a 300. I had goosebumps, chills,” John was quoted as saying. “He was there. This is the best (300 game), and definitely the hardest. I was shaking.” /ra
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